defeat, which set a record for the most money spent in a losing Senate effort, he took positions in the corporate world and avoided electoral politics until becoming a candidate in New York's 2010 gubernatorial election. However, he was defeated by a wide margin in the Republican primary. Giuliani would undergo treatment for his cancer and eventually recover; he would also divorce Donna Hanover and eventually marry Judith Nathan. After his campaign withdrawal, his political future looked uncertain at best. But less than a year after the senate general election, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks took place, with Giuliani still mayor. Giuliani's performance in the aftermath of September 11 earned him many accolades and resurrected his political prospects. After a successful stint in the private sector, in 2007 he also began his presidential campaign for 2008. Throughout much of 2007, Clinton and Giuliani led in national polls for their parties' respective nominations, and media reports often looked back to the 2000 "race that wasn't" as a preview of what might lie in wait for the entire nation in 2008. Such extrapolating ended with the Giuliani campaign's precipitous decline and January 2008 withdrawal. Clinton as well failed to gain the 2008 nomination and, in June 2008, she finished in a close second place to Illinois Senator Barack Obama. In December 2008, Lowey would have another chance at the Senate seat, when Clinton was nominated for U.S. Secretary of State by President-elect Obama and Lowey was considered a front-runner to be named as her appointed replacement. But Lowey withdrew from consideration, as in the intervening years she had gained enough seniority to become one of the powerful "cardinals" on the House Appropriations Committee and did not want to relinquish that position. When Caroline Kennedy announced her interest in the vacancy, comparisons were drawn to Clinton in 2000, with both being famous people seeking to hold elective office for the first time. Others pointed out that Clinton had won election to the office while Kennedy would first be appointed. In any case, Kennedy's effort soon faltered, in part due to not having the same desire or willingness to work for the seat as Clinton had had, and she soon withdrew as abruptly as she had entered. Kirsten Gillibrand received the appointment, and attention then turned to who would run against her in the 2010 Senate special election. By November 2009, Giuliani was